Written By: Ava Chand
Photographed By: Calista Espino
At the University of Oregon, students were lucky enough to see Grammy-nominated rapper Aminé at Matthew Knight Arena for only ten dollars thanks to the Associated Students of the University of Oregon or ASUO. With his upcoming collaboration album with two-time Grammy award-winning producer, KAYTRANADA, the anticipation for this concert was high. Aminé’s set, visually speaking, was a lot more lowkey in comparison to his regular set during his 2021-2022 Best Tour Ever. In his initial tour, he made it known that he would be “taking a bit of Oregon with [him] wherever [he] goes” with a replica of the iconic neon Portland Oregon sign at every single show. Being a Portland-born and raised artist, Oregon holds a special place in his heart and always makes it known that he has Portland roots. In comparison to his very prideful tour, this set consisted of simply a giant screen, a DJ, and Aminé himself. While there wasn’t a giant replica of the Portland sign, Aminé still made sure to showcase his roots with a “503” initially projected on the giant screen, representing the start of a Portland area code phone number.
In terms of the setlist, Aminé started his show off with his newest KAYTRAMINÉ single “4EVA”, which many influencers on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have already regarded as the song of the summer. As soon as the funky house beat accompanied by Pharrell’s feature on the chorus came on, the energy in the audience became electric. Every single body as far as the eye could see was bouncing up and down truly embodying the music. This energy carried throughout the entire concert. With each song, Aminé displayed different but painfully relatable phrases on the screen behind him such as “Why you at this concert when u know u got homework” and “I’m watching Aminé holy shit.” He played every single one of his hit songs, touching on every album he’s released, including his very first 2017 album titled Good For You. Off this introductory album, he played the song that kickstarted his successful career. As soon as the audience heard the deep-toned voice “Listen Man…”
The crowd’s energy skyrocketed. “Caroline” is undoubtedly Aminé’s most recognizable song, and it showed as the crowd proceeded to rap every single lyric. Following the release of Caroline, Aminé has a string of hits encompassing his quirky sound. He performed these hits from all of his albums ranging from “BLACKJACK” off his 2018 Sophomore album ONEPOINTFIVE, to “Charmander” off of his 2021 released sequel album, TWOPOINTFIVE. Experiencing the concert, many forgot how many hit songs Aminé has had throughout the years of his career, including the 2017 single “Red Mercedes” and the all too catchy “Spice Girl”. He even closed out “Spice Girl” with a quick dance break to the nostalgic throwback hit “If You Wanna Be My Lover” by The Spice Girls. To end his concert, Aminé projected on the screen behind him, “This is the last song, twerk” prompting the crowd to get hyped for his final song of the night “REEL IT IN.” In many ways, this was the perfect ender considering its undisputable popularity and the 2018 nostalgia factor. Every single hand was in the air, bouncing up and down radiating an indescribable energy. Aminé put on a concert to remember, with his chaotic yet quirky performance style and excellent choice of setlist; This was truly a remarkable treat for the University of Oregon.